Bulawayo, who moved from Zimbabwe to Kalamazoo in 2000 when she was 18, released her debut novel, "We Need New Names," in May. It is one of 13 books from around the world to be nominated for Great Britain's premier literary prize.

The panel of judges will decide the shortlist in September and announce the winner on Oct. 15. The winner will receive the more than $75,000 prize.

"It's a great day!" Bulawayo said this morning via email.

Bulawayo, whose book was also selected by Oprah as one of "Nine Must-Read Books for June 2013," will read and sign copies of the book from noon to 1:30 p.m. on July 30 at KVCC's Student Commons Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

NoViolet Bulawayo's debut novel, "We Need New Names," was released in May.

Courtesy photo

After KVCC, Bulawayo went on to earn a master's degree in creative writing from Cornell University, where she was also recognized with a Truman
Capote Fellowship. She is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University.

Using her gift for pictorial language, Ms. Bulawayo gives us snapshots of Zimbabwe that have the indelible color and intensity of a folk art painting: “men huddled like sheep and playing draughts under the lone jacaranda,” the blooming purple flowers almost make them “look beautiful in the shade without their shirts on,” sitting there, “crouched forward like tigers”; the women doing their best to look pretty, wearing “a bangle made from rusty, twisted wire,” a “flower tucked behind an ear,” “earrings made from colorful seeds,” “bright patches of cloth sewn onto a skirt.”